Purdue's fall practice is sprinting towards its first scrimmage on Thursday.

Which means Ryan Walters and his staff are hoping for health, looking for discovery, and occasionally speaking in cliche.

But between that, we got to hear from Walters himself about the start of Purdue's week and its fifth practice of the fall practice schedule as week two started on Monday.

Purdue's season is now just ahead of us with Purdue's opener against Indiana State on August 31st. That means four full weeks of practice remains ahead of Walters second season at Purdue.

Here's some of what Walters had to say today and the full video below:

First and foremost, after last year's injury riddled season as a team, Purdue's head coach Ryan Walters hopes for better hope going into his second season as head coach. So far, so good, as Purdue's roster is already healthier at this point than it was last year.

While a few names did miss practice to start the week, it's not the bevy of significant injuries that plagued Walters first season as a head coach.

"We've got a couple guys dinged up," Walters said to media as he was asked about a few different players at the media scrum. "Normal football wear and tear through four really hard, now five really hard practices. What I will say is our guys are getting after it. Not having to coach or correct effort of physicality. So when you practice that way, football and nature is tough. It's a physical sport. You're gonna have some minor issues."

One of the guys whose injury is being tracked by Purdue at a position of need, UCLA transfer WR Cam Brown, is getting close.

"He's close to being able to return," Walters said about Brown specifically.

With losing so much receiving talent, Brown and a bunch of newcomers will be vital in Hudson Card making the most of his return to Purdue for his second season as the starting signal caller in Graham Harrell's offense after transferring from Texas before last season.

Card will have the starting experience going into his second season at Purdue that he didn't have coming from Texas. That experience seems to be paying off already as Card looks good as the season approaches.

"He's getting to his answers early," Walters said about Card's play.

Card is something of a known quantity at this point for a Purdue offense that has a lot of new pieces providing support around their quarterback.

But that doesn't mean the offense isn't going to have high expectations fromt he jump.

"Our wideouts are tall," Walters said about his wide receiver room. "They're explosive. They're strong. They block."

They'll work in tandemn with a young but promising collection of tight ends that got to flash at the end of last season when injuries allowed Drew Biber and George Burhenn to shine in Purdue's final couple games.

"Our tight ends are very versatile," Walters said.

But maybe most important for Card and the offense that Walters expects to be explosive, is that Purdue has added a lot to their offensive line room.

"Our offensive line, a lot more depth than it had a year ago," Walters said. "You know, bigger and stronger."

Purdue's offense line last year was ravaged with injuries last year, at times causing Card to lose confidence in his protection, forcing the QB to rush and leave reads early.

But Card played his best football at the end of the season, and Purdue will try to carry that momentum into this season.

Purdue's first fall schedule will be on Thursday. Walters' hopes for the scrimmage are pretty simple.

"I hope we stay healthy," Walters said. It's hard to blame the head coach who watched his team never get close to 100% last year, with key pieces missing from the jump.

Now, his players and depth will get its first chance to go head to head and start to separate themselves.

"Execution and playing the right way," Walters said of what he's hoping to see Thursday. "You like to see some of the guys that you're counting on for depth... Like to start seeing people separate themselves that are in position battles."

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